MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / November 15, 1999

KENNER – Destrehan was making one of its first appearances in the state volleyball tournament in the Pontchartrain Center Wed-nesday afternoon but it certainly didn’t look like it as the Lady Cats rallied from a 7-0 deficit in the third game to defeat South Terrebonne, 13-15, 15-5, 15-13, in the Division I bi-district playoffs.

Destrehan fell in the regionals to Bonnabel, 15-5, 15-3, Thursday afternoon. Bonnabel (15-13) moved on to play Dominican in thequarterfinals Friday while Destrehan finished at 17-10.

South Terrebonne appeared to be the one on its way to the regionals Wednesday, running off seven straight points to open the third game. Afteran ace by Atina Porter broke the string, South Terrebonne increased the lead to 9-1 behind an ace by Heather Plaisance.

The Lady Cats began to chip away at the lead on their next serve. A kill byTerri August and an ace by Kimberly Bierman made it 9-3. After a serviceviolation by the Lady Gators, Porter took over, delivering two kills and a block to trim the deficit to 9-7.

South Terrebonne momentarily halted the Lady Cats’ momentum as a kill by Holly Trosclair made it 11-7. But again it was Porter as she deliveredtwo kills abd a block to give the Lady Cats their first lead at 12-11.

South Terrebonne bounced back, using an ace by Donna Babin and a cross- court by Trosclair to regain the lead at 13-12. But after a timeout by theLady Cats, Jan Chauvin got the serve back for Destrehan with a dink. A dinkby August tied the score and Kimberly Bierman sandwiched two aces around a South Terrebonne timeout for the match winner.

“We were down but definitely not out,” Destrehan coach Calvin Ike said.

“It was a credit to them. They were down but they came back. All thecredit goes to them. They did a good job of coming back.”Destrehan bounced back from a 3-0 deficit to take a 4-3 lead in the first game on an ace by August. South Terrebonne came back on its next serve toregain the lead on an ace by Heather Hebert. From there, the teams tradedthe lead with Destrehan taking a 10-8 lead on two kills and a dink by Porter. After the Lady Gators regained the lead, Jessica Johnson tied it at11 with an ace. South Terrebonne came back to take the lead for good on akill by Kristen Guidry. An ace by Chauvin brought the Lady Cats to within14-13 but the Lady Gators got the game winner on a shot into the net by Porter.

Destrehan quickly bounced back, taking a 4-1 lead in the second game behind an ace by Porter. After South Terrebonne pulled to within 4-3 ontwo aces by Trosclair, Destrehan used a 4-0 run with Kimberly Bierman serving to pull away. A dink by August, an ace by Bierman and two LadyGator errors made it 8-3.

Consecutive aces by Ashley Pennison brought South Terrebonne to within 8-5 but Porter answered for the Lady Cats with Katherine Kain serving, using two dinks and two kills to give her team a 12-5 lead. Destrehanclosed out the game on its next serve with Erica Bierman serving, getting a kill by Porter and then a dink off the net by Kain for the game winner.

“I told them if we cut out the physical mistakes and got our serves in, I knew we would play well in the second game,” Ike said.

Porter finished with 17 kills and nine blocks. Kimberly Bierman had fiveaces while Erica Bierman provided 23 assists. Chauvin added three digs. In the regionals Thursday, Bonnabel jumped to a 10-2 lead in the first game. Irion Watkins had two blocks and Mary Clawson added a kill duringthe run. Destrehan pulled to 10-4 on aces by Jessica Johnson and KimberlyBierman. But aces by Watkins and Anisa Barthel and a kill by Dana Taylorhelped the Bruins close out the game.

The second game would be a duplicate of the first with the Bruins jumping out to a 12-2 advantage. Kills by Stephanie Wilborn, Watkins and Baretheland aces by Wilborn and Rebecca Wright contributed to the run. Destrehangot an ace by Jan Chauvin but a kill by Barthel helped close out the match.

Barthel had two aces and six assists for the Bruins. Wilborn had five killswhile Watkins had four blocks and Wright had four digs.

Kimberly Bierman had a team-high three kills for the Lady Cats.

Chauvin had a dig while Porter had two blocks. Bierman led the offensewith four assists.

“Nothing came together,” Ike said. “We were never in the game. But it wasstill fun being here. We really enjoyed ourselves.”South Terrebonne finished with an overall record of 12-14. Kristen Guidryhad 12 assists and five digs. Trosclair and Donna Babin had two killsapiece while Penninson led with two assists.

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